Behavior of Choice
by Shizuku Tsukishima749
Summary: The Second Task was nearing its end, the hour merely a minute and a half from being up, and he still had not shown his face. Suddenly, Hermione, face frantic, pulled desperately on Neville's arm. "It's Harry! He's all right!" Oneshot. HHr


**Disclaimer: **(I NEVER put this in my stories, actually. It always slips my mind! Bad me!) _I own nothing having to do with Harry Potter or its many affiliates! Thank you!_

**Behavior of Choice**

The Second Task was nearing its end, the hour merely a minute and a half from being up, and the 'treasures' that had been rescued from the depths of the lake were shivering on the giant platform docks, waiting for the moment when they'd be able to venture back to the castle to dry off in front of the fire.

One of them, however, was more anxious than the rest, and the way she bit her lip and talked rapidly to herself as she stared into the water's dark hues clearly showed it.

"Hermione, Harry'll…be here soon. He's just…a bit late, that's all. You know how he is with his homework. It's…it's the same thing here."

Neville tried to console her, but she merely closed her eyes and whispered a hair louder, seemingly to block him out.

It was in her state of mind that if any outside force should break her 'concentration', she would shatter to pieces and never be able to be reassembled. The effect would merely last until Harry came back, but as the task was nearly at its finish and he still had not shown his face, the pudgy boy could very well see that the process had already begun, but from the inside.

He sighed, and as he rested his hands on the rail again and peered into the water as well, he felt he understood her predicament.

Harry was special to them all, as he was the Boy-Who-Lived, the fate-forsaken child destined to save the world, and if he would somehow be lost during a tournament in which he wasn't even willingly participating…

That wasn't how all of them saw him, though, simply as the embodiment of the most prestigious title known to their world. He knew in his heart he thought of Harry as one of his closest friends, and he knew plenty of others who felt the same, but…there was one person to whom Harry meant so much more, and she was standing not two feet away from him.

Just then, he was broken from his thoughts as Hermione, her face suddenly frantic and her movements hurried, pulled urgently on his arm, screaming.

"Neville! It's Harry! He's all right! Come on!" With that, she released him and ran faster than he'd ever seen her toward a large crowd, in the middle of which he expected to be Harry. He jogged over and was not surprised by what he witnessed next.

"Harry!" Hermione pushed her way through the crowd and practically fell down in front of the soaking, still recovering boy, wrapping her own blanket securely around him and on top of the one already there.

"Hermione! Ow!" Apparently, he had gotten a bit hurt down there, and as Neville looked closer, he spotted several small sores all over, most likely from the population of considerably smaller squid that lived below.

"Are you all right? You must be freezing! Personally, I think you behaved admirably." As she spoke, she put her hand comfortingly on his shoulder, rubbing it with her thumb in great support, her eyes never leaving his face.

She knew her worry was more than noticeable, but at that pivotal moment, Harry was what mattered the most.

"I finished last, Hermione." Finally, she couldn't take it anymore. She reached up, took his head in her hands, and did something not one person surrounding them expected: she kissed it.

As she sank down to her former position on her knees again, still affectionately holding his head, she was aware of the stares she was getting from Seamus, but blatantly ignored them. She immediately spoke again, peering into Harry's eyes.

"Next to last! Fleur never got past _ze grindylows_!" The best friends laughed joyfully at the joke, both of them ignoring their drenched bodies that weren't about to get any relief from the dark clouds that refused to deny themselves the opportunity to freeze their helpless victims.

They were silenced, however, when Dumbledore stood at the middle of the many platforms and his voice bellowed through the air.

Harry noticed Hermione shivering and handed her blanket back; having her arms against his body was all the warmth he needed. She silently took it, though he could tell she was reluctant by her swirling brown eyes; he quieted her quarreling doubts with a small smile, and she returned the gesture with a bigger one, her violently churning seas now calm.

Because of their interaction, they only got to hear the very last, yet most important bit of the speech.

"…Fleur Delacour in fourth place, Viktor Krum in third, Cedric Diggory at the top in first, and," He could feel Dumbledore's grave, yet twinkling eyes on him. "Harry Potter at a close second!"

Cheers erupted around him, almost permanently damaging his hearing, but the loudest and most wonderful to hear of them all came from right beside him.

"Second place! You did it, Harry! You see?! I knew you could do it; I told you! You had me so worried when you didn't come up, but I just knew you'd be all right! You know, Harry, I'm always…"

She paused, her cheeks a tint brighter than usual, and it was this action that commanded Harry to say something.

However, he found he could say nothing at all as Hermione placed her hands on his shoulders and leaned toward his ear, whispering warmly.

"I'm always so proud of you. You've never failed to think of me every time there's danger, no matter what it is that's happening. Thank you, Harry."

Now she full on hugged him, their arms wrapping around the 'reserved' places on each other's bodies, grateful to no extent that Rita was not there to spoil _this_ moment between them.

She'd always loved how admirably he behaved, particularly when it came to her fate, and ever since first year, she'd wished she could return the favor. However, no matter how much she'd done to help him through the years, she insisted that it wasn't enough.

Maybe she wasn't worthy of being his friend after all…

"Hermione?"

"Yes?"

"You behaved admirably, too, you know. Just by being here now, by being my friend…by being just as you are."

She smiled.

**_A/N: _I do apologize if I got the placement details wrong! Also, the 'reserved' parts of their bodies mean over his shoulders (Hermione's place) and encircling her back (Harry's); nothing beyond that, honestly! Nonetheless, I hope you enjoyed my newest creation, and will give me feedback displaying such things! Thanks for reading, and I do hope I made you smile somewhere along the road!**


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